The hunting of big game animals is a very popular sport. Big game animals as used herein is meant to include those animals typically differentiated by hunting sportsman from small game animals such as rabbit, squirrel, various game birds and the like.
One of the most widely hunted and popular big game animals include deer. Deer and most other big game animals have an acute sense of smell and can detect the presence of human and other scents associated with humans from great distances. It has been estimated by experts that deer, for example, have a scent sensitivity at least 4000 times greater than humans possess. This ability to detect scents require the hunter to carefully stalk or position himself relative to the wind direction to attempt to reduce the opportunity for the animal to detect the hunter's presence too early to afford a reasonable chance to harvest the animal.
Since wind direction can often change suddenly or the likely approaching direction of the animal towards the hunter is often difficult to predict, some hunters prefer to apply a covering scent on themselves to mask their own odor. While such scents are believed to be of some benefit, they are not foolproof in eliminating the human scents which can be detected by the animals and use is somewhat discouraged by the undesirable odor left on the hunter's clothing after the hunt has ended.
Apart from the hunter's body, a significant amount of human or human generated scents detectable by game animals are associated with the clothing worn by the hunter. While such articles such as shorts or underwear can be changed daily, the outer hunting garments, including coats, vests, overalls or hunting pants, for example, are most often worn several times between a washing or cleaning. It is also impractical to wash or clean these types of articles after each day of hunting, particularly when one is located away from home and plans hunting two or more consecutive days.
Further, even the articles of clothing which are worn underneath the outer garments which can be changed or washed daily can be contaminated by the odor of commonly used soap or other detergents unless special non-scented soaps are used. The more commonly used soaps and detergents can be the source of odors which can alert game animals to the presence of an unnatural scent which can be associated with humans.
Prior to the present invention, those skilled in the art have not provided a satisfactory solution to such a problem which can significantly reduce the human scents associated with articles of hunting garments in a simple and convenient manner.